The Central Elections Committee for the 26th Knesset decided today (Wednesday) to disqualify the Joint List from running in the upcoming elections.
This is after MK Ofer Kassif and Balad Chairman MK Sami Abu Shehadeh were earlier disqualified from running on the Ra'am list.
As part of the request, the committee was asked to determine whether the Joint List is barred from participating in the elections for the 26th Knesset under Article 7A(a)(1) of the Basic Law: The Knesset on two grounds: denying the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state and supporting an armed struggle by an enemy state or a terrorist organization against the State of Israel.
The committee plenary unanimously decided to reject the request by Orot Hashahar to disqualify the Balad party, since no affidavit was submitted and because the request referred to disqualifying a party, while only a list of candidates can be disqualified.
At the end of the discussion and vote, the plenum of the Central Elections Committee for the Knesset decided to accept the request to disqualify the Joint List from running in the elections for the 26th Knesset.
The results of the votes for both grounds: 18 in favor of accepting the request, 5 against, and 1 abstention.
In accordance with the provisions of the law, the committee's decision and its reasoning will be forwarded to the Supreme Court for review.
This concludes the meeting for today. Discussions will resume tomorrow at 9:00 AM.
In total, seven hearings on disqualification requests were scheduled in the current election campaign - two against candidates and five against lists.
